This week I will touch lightly on a sore subject for some of you… Some people have an area of your home that (at this point should not be because we just went through it all! But…) is a cluttered storage area. Other people (you know who you are) have entire storage units full of stuff you haven’t touched in years. I know one person who was paying for years on not one but TWO storage units full of stuff… the “what if” stuff… the “you never know” stuff… only to have it all washed away in a very bad flood. Another who had an entire climate controlled storage unit full of (“what if”) restaurant supplies. It is okay faithful readers… the first step is admitting you have a problem.
Save yourself hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year. Empty that puppy out and stop wasting your hard earned money! Here we go again:
Make a date! This weekend is supposed to be sunny and beautiful! Plus, the students are migrating out for the summer and this is the time of year when many people know to look for furniture and odds and ends on Craigslist, Swidjit, Freecycle, or wherever. Plus, the yard sale season is ramping up. This is the perfect time to clear out that storage unit, and make some extra dollars in the meantime!
Make a plan! My suggestion is to fallow the same guidelines as the garage, useful because it should still be fresh in your minds from last week! Haul everything out of the unit. Separate it into “keep”, “sell”, and “donate or throw away” piles. There is such a wide variety of things that people would or could potentially store. Hopefully you are not spending your cash on storing garbage… use the guidelines given to you in all of my past posts. Clothing, paperwork, gifts, ornaments, knick knacks, books, school supplies, media, arts and crafts… hopefully no food! I tend to lean toward the “if you haven’t used it, looked at it, or thought about it in a year it has to go” theory.
Make a deadline! To me what makes the most sense if to try to get everything out by the end of your rental date? For instance, if rent is due on June 1st, your deadline is to have everything cleared out by May 31st. This gives you about two weeks to get to it. So get to it! Another nice thing about the storage unit is that (I am guessing, you would have to check with the rental office) you should be able to post something online or in the paper stating that you are having a storage unit sale, and then you can just sell everything right out of the unit as opposed to hauling it all home!
This may again, seem daunting… but I know you can do it! This should be old hat to you by now. Another beauty thing is that most storage units have dumpsters on site, so it makes for quick, close, and free disposal! Also, some people cruise the dumpsters because renters often leave usable things outside of them on the ground, so if you have anything usable left over, that could easily be your “free” pile!
Finally… Celebrate! Use that storage unit money to buy yourself a little sumpin’ sumpin’! Have solace in knowing that this is one less bill for you to pay. Speaking of bills… maybe at some point we should talk about clearing away some of your financial bagua?
Next week: ??? Life is full of surprises… (Any ideas? Send ‘em my way!)